Claro Advisors LLC Purchases 224 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 224 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $843,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 107.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Graco in the third quarter worth about $243,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 874.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 440,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,094,000 after acquiring an additional 395,150 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 61.2% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 8,225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 3,124 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Graco by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 73,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,349,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $77.85 on Tuesday. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $81.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.99. The company has a market cap of $13.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 23.01% and a net margin of 23.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on GGG shares. StockNews.com downgraded Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.75.

Graco Profile

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The Contractor segment offers sprayers to apply paint to walls and other structures; two-component proportioning systems that are used to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; and viscous coatings to roofs, as well as markings on roads, parking lots, athletic fields, and floors.